Who's got the best chance to take Alex Rodriguez's spot at third in 2014?

That might need a two-part answer.

It could make the most sense for the Yankees to give at-bats against lefties to the right-handed Eduardo Nunez and let southpaw-hitting Kelly Johnson take over when a righty is on the mound.

Rodriguez's 162-game suspension for alleged performance-enhancing drug use takes away the Yankees' best option — even if A-Rod wasn't all that attractive in the first place. A healthy A-Rod gave the Yankees a decent defensive option and whatever pop remained in his slowing bat.

With that gone, manager Joe Girardi's decision gets difficult. But if Girardi still relies on his big binder o'stats, he might see that though neither would bring a great glove to the hot corner, he'd at least have an idea of what to expect from them in the batter's box.

Take Johnson: About 3/4 of his career plate appearances, or 3,034 of 4,174, have come against righties. His .244 career batting average against them is far from ideal, but Johnson, who hit 16 homers last year, might find luck in Yankee Stadium's short porch.

Then take Nunez: That he hits better against lefties (.272) than righties (.264) isn't a shock, and his career OBP (around .315) is about the same against both of them.

And though Johnson actually has a better career batting average vs. lefties than Nunez, there's a reason he's done most of his work against righties — it's where his strength lies.

Both Nunez and Johnson have limited third base experience, however. Johnson has played there just 16 games — all of them in 2013 — and Nunez only 78.

That said, Johnson committed just one error at the position last year and Nunez had two in a couple fewer games. (Side note: Both have played lots of shortstop — Johnson in the minors, Nunez at both levels. So neither is unfamiliar with the infield's left side.)

But they both are better big-league hitters than probable minor leaguers Dean Anna and Scott Sizemore.

The Yankees added Anna via trade with San Diego in November, and though the 27-year-old hit well in Triple A, it was his first season at such a level. He brings little pop and hardly any third base experience, and the Yankees would almost undoubtedly prefer Johnson's lefty bat.

Sizemore struggled to hit in his first two major league seasons before twice tearing his ACL, keeping him out all of 2012 and most of 2013. Though Sizemore has played the majority of his big-league games at third, he went through the minors a second baseman.